The goals of this program are to identify, inspire and train promising candidates for research careers in academic nephrology and to assist qualified trainees in obtaining suitable academic positions. The program is designed to provide physicians heading for careers in academic nephrology the thorough scientific grounding necessary for a successful research career and to attract recent PhD graduates and provide them postdoctoral research training in a scientific discipline relevant to nephrology. Research training will continue for at least two years. On average, three new trainees will enter the program each year. The principal mechanism for training is direct performance of research under the personal supervision of one or more of the training staff comprised of nine nephrologists and seven basic scientists. Experienced, interdisciplinary training staff provide training in immunopathology, autoimmunity, renal cell physiology, ischemic and toxic renal injury, gene regulation related to renal cancer and developmental biology, and clinical research relevant to kidney diseases. Well-established collaborative arrangements allow each trainee to acquire a broad research experience and focus a variety of skills on a specific research protocol. Trainees assume graded responsibility for the design, conduct and interpretation of experiments, progressively becoming more independent but always remaining under the supervision of the preceptor. All trainees and staff meet frequently for seminars, journal clubs and other formal group teaching exercises. Coursework leading to a PhD is available in the Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, and formal training in clinical research is provided through the BU School of Public Health and Division of Graduate Medical Sciences. Trainees work in modern, well-equipped laboratory space in the Evans Biomedical Research Center and laboratories of basic science faculty. These are in close proximity to core facilities, modern animal care quarters supervised by a full-time veterinarian, and the BUSPH. The General Clinical Research Center at Boston Medical Center is available for clinical studies.